Panoz DP-01

[Jack_Bauer]

The 2007 Champ Car World Series sees the debut of a new spec chassis/engine combination, the Elan Motorsports built Panoz DP-01.

The car has been developed with several key objectives in mind: increased driver safety, reduced weight, more nimble chassis, reduced cost, and a reduction in in the effect of "dirty air" in traffic. Panoz have acheived these objectives very effectively. The car is smaller in both length and width to make it more nimble. It is around 70kg lighter, down to 630kg from 700kg (without driver onboard). A revised driving position, improved front, side and rear impact zones, and a collapsible fuel cell improve safety. Perhaps most significantly the aerodynamicists chose to go down the route of underbody created downforce whilst actually reducing the amount of wings on top of the car. The front of these underbody tunnels can clearly be seen in the first pic under the radiator intakes. The car is alledged to produce over 60% of its total downforce from the underbody, which in theory should allow cars to follow each other closely with a less significant grip penalty and which in turn should result in more overtaking and better racing.

The other key changes for the series include the introduction of a 7-speed semi-automatic paddle shift gearbox for the first time. This will be the only electronic "driver aid" on the car however, as the series still shuns the use of any launch, traction or stability controls. All 750-800hp are controlled soley by the driver's right foot, which should make things particularly interesting given the introduction of standing starts in the series for the first time (where the track layout allows).

Power is still provided by Cosworth Racing in the form of the 2.65 litre turbocharged V8 FXE engine. It produces around 750hp in normal running, which is boosted to around 800hp when the driver uses the "push-to-pass" boost function. Fuelling is methanol rather than gasoline.

Preseason testing has shown the car to be impressively quick. On the final day of testing at Laguna Seca the 3-time champion Sebastien Bourdais finished top with a stunning lap of 1:05.880. This time shattered the previous unofficial track-record set by Ricardo Zonta in a Toyota Formula 1 car, beating the previous mark of 1:06.309 by almost half a second. Eleven drivers on the day actually beat Helio Castroneves' official lap record of 1:07.7 set back in 2000. Given that Champ Cars in those days were producing a fearsome amount of power, rumoured to be around the 1000bhp, these times are certainly full of promise.

The series begins in Las Vegas on April 8th, before heading off around North America and the rest of the world, including returning to Europe for the first time in a while with races at Zolder and Assen.

[Jack_Bauer]

Panoz DP-01 #2

[Jack_Bauer]

Panoz DP-01 #3

Pic 1 is Cristiano Da Matta, who was seriously injured in testing last year in a freak accident with a deer.

Pic 2 is the obligatory biatches

[2ndclasscitizen]

I'm diggin' the chrome wheels, that'll totally pull the honeys in the pits.

Also, is Da Matta just really short or is he not sitting in that thing properly?

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by 2ndclasscitizen

Also, is Da Matta just really short or is he not sitting in that thing properly?

It seems he lost his legs and entire lower torso in the accident.

Either that or there's just no seat fitted...

[carsnut]

This thing really beat the Toyota F1 car? Must be quite a car. Maybe Bourdias will become champcar champion again.

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by carsnut

This thing really beat the Toyota F1 car? Must be quite a car. Maybe Bourdias will become champcar champion again.

Well, that's not too much of a feat considering that these things have more straight line speed due to the turbos and methanol. Secondly, F1 cars and these are run to completely different specs - making comparisson difficult.

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

Well, that's not too much of a feat considering that these things have more straight line speed due to the turbos and methanol. Secondly, F1 cars and these are run to completely different specs - making comparisson difficult.

Laguna Seca isn't an oval...

[Jack_Bauer]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

Well, that's not too much of a feat considering that these things have more straight line speed due to the turbos and methanol. Secondly, F1 cars and these are run to completely different specs - making comparisson difficult.

Champ Cars produce roughly the same amount of power as F1 cars, the turbo and methanol fuel are pretty irrelevant. The DP-01 will probably have a bit less drag, but is also heavier so slower to get up to speed. I don't think there'll be significant advantage in straight-line speed either way, and Laguna Seca isn't really a circuit that demands a high top-speed anyway.

The fact that Bourdais beat the lap-record doesn't mean that Champ Cars are now faster than F1 cars. Toyota were just doing a demonstration run when they set the record, it wasn't a full test. I'm sure if all the F1 teams and drivers were there doing a multiple day test then the final times would have ended up being significantly faster.

However, the fact that the DP-01 is producing such quick times in spite of the current strict limits on turbo-boost is impressive, particularly when you consider the relative costs of the cars. I don't know how much the DP-01 cost to develop or how much they are to purchase for the teams, but it is estimated that a leading team like Newman-Haas will operate on a budget of around $20 million per year. Compare that to the several HUNDRED million $s that a top F1 team spends per season and I think it shows that the Champ Car teams are definitely getting good bang-for-buck from their new cars.

[Kitdy]

Jack, your superior knowledge trumps my simple brain yet again.

[RacingManiac]

What's also impressive is that when designing the Champcar they don't have to specifically "beat" another design(the old Lola maybe, thats about it, but then that was a 5 years old design). When you are not shooting for something its hard to make an optimum design. Panoz did a good job making a proper car....